On July 21, 2022, Government of Nepal’s Nepal Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) funded by the British Embassy, Kathmandu (BEK) organized a Micro-Hydro Project Proposal Development Workshop. The program was organized to increase the level of awareness on NREP and Sustainable Energy Challenge Fund (SECF), its support mechanism for Micro-Hydro Project (MHP) investment, various business models for MHP development. The expected outcome of the workshop was that it would help add MHPs to the existing SECF project pipeline. The program was conducted in collaboration with Nepal Micro Hydropower Development Association (NMHDA) and Renewable Energy Confederation of Nepal (RECON). 53 participants (47 male and 6 female), which included MHP developers and relevant key stakeholders, actively participated in the program.

The program started with opening remarks and sharing of program objectives by Dr. Narayan Adhikari, Director, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC). The Executive Director (ED) of AEPC, Dr. Madhusudhan Adhikari urged stakeholders to bring vibrancy to the MHP sector and encouraged them to take advantage of SECF fund. Similarly, NMHDA and RECON representatives described how SECF and the workshop could be beneficial for MHP developers, service providers and enterprises.

NREP introduced the participants to the Programme and the SECF mechanism while walking them through feasibility study report template, financial analysis tools and SECF application portals. Likewise, AEPC presented the key policies and regulatory provisions for grid interconnection of MHP and challenges. All the participants enthusiastically participated in the question-and-answer session on SECF application process and other technical subjects. NREP expects to have more collaboration among interested applicants and receive more SECF application for MHP system improvement in future.